To Buy or Not To Buy..

Architecture has played an important role in the American shopping mall, through creating spaces to display its goods and services to the shopper. How do we interpret these spaces? How do we know which space to go in and buy from? I’ll tell you how; it’s all based on shopping trends which seem to be just as important as the malls architecture. Knowing how to attract the customer into your store is just as important as the architecture that surrounds it. After reading The Science of Shopping written by Malcolm Galdwell, we know that you need to have four zones in your store to assure that the customer will take the time to explore the store. These zones are the Decompression zone, the petting zone, the accessories zone, and the far wall/changing room zone. Each zone plays an important role in the transition from window shopper to shopper. The ideas of these zones are to shift the gears of the pedestrian. You want them to slow down so that they will be able to pick up the visual offerings that these stores display. When shoppers move to fast thru the mall they lose their focus and visual cues don’t work. When you create a Decompression zone you are allowing the customer to focus on what you are trying to sell. This gives the shopper the ability to change their mind set from just navigating through obstacles to looking for that special gift or new pair of jeans. Each of the other zones has a similar job which is to increase the time shoppers spend in the store, which may increase the chances of the shopper buying something. For example, in Carousel Mall a majority of the stores do not waste time with elaborate window displays of the items they sell. Instead they use other tactics like signage, advertising sales, clearances and buy one get one free offers. These advertisements are the new sales gimmicks that pull the shoppers in.